Deacon Sports Xtra: Returning Experience and Talent Throughout in Gebbia’s First Season at Wake Forest
11/7/2022 12:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Les Johns
“We're just gonna try to get better each and every day.” - head coach Megan Gebbia
There's reason for optimism in the Wake Forest Women's Basketball program, as the Demon Deacons have new leadership in first-year head coach Megan Gebbia and return the vast majority of the production that led to a 16-17 record and WNIT appearance a season ago.
The only departure from last year's roster is Christina Morra, who graduated and is now playing professionally overseas. That means the Deacs return 89.2% of their minutes, 87.2% of their scoring, 91.2% of their rebounding and 95.8% of their assists from a season ago.
"I'm not coming into a program where I had to fill spots," Gebbia, who arrived at Wake Forest after nine seasons as head coach at American University, said. "It's not devoid of talent. The previous staff did a good job bringing players in. We're just gonna try to get better each and every day. Take the lessons, but I do think we have a chance."
There's just one freshman on the roster, point guard Kate Deeble, but she's expected to contribute in a big way, meaning the rotation is likely to be deep for Gebbia and the Deacs.
"I'm hoping to play 10," Gebbia said. "A lot of times when you get to the league that shrinks to eight."
The buy-in from the team has been both immediate and impactful. The players have embraced the new staff and together they're focused on producing a competitive season in Winston-Salem and building a new winning tradition at Wake Forest.
"They're like sponges, they're soaking everything in," Gebbia said. "They're asking great questions. I'm trying to change habits that they were taught before. And this is not right or wrong, they're the former staff's philosophy and my philosophy is just different. So I'm trying to break down basketball multiple times. I'm trying to get them to play the way I want them to play.
"We're allowing them to do freelance a little bit more within the offense. They're going to attack, they're going to play. That's kind of fun for me to watch. And then just the athleticism and the length and the physicality of the game was also enjoyable to see."
While the Deacs ran off to a 10-1 start last year in the non-conference schedule, they struggled in ACC play, finishing 4-14. Gebbia believes this year's early-season slate will better prepare the team for the rigors of conference competition.
"If we happen to be in the top half of the league, great and then we have a chance to get into the tournament, they're gonna look at your non-conference and what you did," she said. "So we've talked to the team about that, and we're gonna explain the NET to them and what that means. Our NET score overall, for non-conference is 80 points better than it was last year. That's huge. But now you have to win those games."
The regular season begins at 5 p.m. Monday against Elon, part of a opening-night basketball doubleheader, with the men's team hosting Fairfield at 8 p.m. Gebbia's Deacs will later take on Missouri and Alabama in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship, and then Minnesota in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge later in the month.
"Those are three Power-5 opponents," Gebbia explained. "That will be kind of starring on the schedule to tell us where we're at. The other games we're gonna hit a lot of different styles of play. It would be ideal if we played a lot of teams that play zone, some press, some switch and some don't. Some have bigs some others don't.
"We get to see how we need to shift our team around based on the opponent, and what gives us the best chance to win. But I'm looking for growth in the non-conference. I'm looking for chemistry on the court, especially on offense, but defensively as well."
While Gebbia hasn't yet named team captains, big things are expected from guard Jewel Spear, who was named Preseason First Team All-ACC. She led the team and the ACC last season, scoring 18.3 points a game.
"It's so much fun to watch Jewel practice," Gebbia said. "She's really trying to step up to be a leader more vocally than she was last year. She really makes good decisions and she asks great questions. We've never once butted heads with a philosophy on anything.
"She's just willing to learn. That's a lesson for all of us. We all have to be lifelong learners, not just for a certain amount of time. That's one of the greatest things about her. Any conversation I've ever had with her, we've always been on the same page with basketball and her beliefs and my beliefs. So that really helps to have your best player be in lock-step with you."
The staff is expecting a huge leap forward this season from 6-foot-2 junior forward Demeara Hinds, who averaged 2.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a contest last year.
"She is a force to be reckoned with inside, and I want to use her as that," Gebbia said. "She's also a heck of a rebounder and a heck of a defender. I'm not sure there's many kids who can contend with her on the block when she really wants the ball and is really trying, so we're gonna use that.
"But then we might face opponents that don't have a great inside kid that she can't go, although she can pretty much guard anyone if I'm being honest. When it's not her, and it's gonna be Niyah (Becker), or we're gonna move Liv (Olivia Summiel) to the five so you can match up better. We're looking for matchups, we're looking for advantages. And Demeara could be an advantage in a situation like that, too."
Starting at point guard for the Deacs will be senior Kaia Harrison, a disruptive defender who can attack opposing teams in transition.
"One of the things I really like about Kaia is she's different from Kate (Deeble) point guard wise," Gebbia said. "You got like a real quick, athletic kid that can break it down and get to the rim and Kate's more of set-it-up point guard, but I'm also going to shoot from the perimeter. You have to guard me out here and then get the ball in the right spots.
"And I like the difference between them. It's kind of fun. And Kaia has the energy piece. She's the energizer bunny. I mean, that kid can go and she defends. Yeah. It's hard to take somebody that's that good defensively off the floor. It's just hard. It's disruptive."
The Deacs will play in Joel Coliseum three times in November: Monday against Elon, Nov. 17 against Mercer and Nov. 27 against Coastal Carolina.
"You're going to see them have fun while they're out there playing," Gebbia said. "There's going to be some fun plays that you're going to see. You hope the fans really like it. I've always had fans that have enjoyed it. So I'm hoping these fans enjoy it. And they see the development throughout the year. If they do and they stick with us, they'll be happy. But by this time next year, hopefully."
The only departure from last year's roster is Christina Morra, who graduated and is now playing professionally overseas. That means the Deacs return 89.2% of their minutes, 87.2% of their scoring, 91.2% of their rebounding and 95.8% of their assists from a season ago.
"I'm not coming into a program where I had to fill spots," Gebbia, who arrived at Wake Forest after nine seasons as head coach at American University, said. "It's not devoid of talent. The previous staff did a good job bringing players in. We're just gonna try to get better each and every day. Take the lessons, but I do think we have a chance."
There's just one freshman on the roster, point guard Kate Deeble, but she's expected to contribute in a big way, meaning the rotation is likely to be deep for Gebbia and the Deacs.
"I'm hoping to play 10," Gebbia said. "A lot of times when you get to the league that shrinks to eight."
The buy-in from the team has been both immediate and impactful. The players have embraced the new staff and together they're focused on producing a competitive season in Winston-Salem and building a new winning tradition at Wake Forest.
"They're like sponges, they're soaking everything in," Gebbia said. "They're asking great questions. I'm trying to change habits that they were taught before. And this is not right or wrong, they're the former staff's philosophy and my philosophy is just different. So I'm trying to break down basketball multiple times. I'm trying to get them to play the way I want them to play.
"We're allowing them to do freelance a little bit more within the offense. They're going to attack, they're going to play. That's kind of fun for me to watch. And then just the athleticism and the length and the physicality of the game was also enjoyable to see."
While the Deacs ran off to a 10-1 start last year in the non-conference schedule, they struggled in ACC play, finishing 4-14. Gebbia believes this year's early-season slate will better prepare the team for the rigors of conference competition.
"If we happen to be in the top half of the league, great and then we have a chance to get into the tournament, they're gonna look at your non-conference and what you did," she said. "So we've talked to the team about that, and we're gonna explain the NET to them and what that means. Our NET score overall, for non-conference is 80 points better than it was last year. That's huge. But now you have to win those games."
The regular season begins at 5 p.m. Monday against Elon, part of a opening-night basketball doubleheader, with the men's team hosting Fairfield at 8 p.m. Gebbia's Deacs will later take on Missouri and Alabama in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship, and then Minnesota in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge later in the month.
"Those are three Power-5 opponents," Gebbia explained. "That will be kind of starring on the schedule to tell us where we're at. The other games we're gonna hit a lot of different styles of play. It would be ideal if we played a lot of teams that play zone, some press, some switch and some don't. Some have bigs some others don't.
"We get to see how we need to shift our team around based on the opponent, and what gives us the best chance to win. But I'm looking for growth in the non-conference. I'm looking for chemistry on the court, especially on offense, but defensively as well."
While Gebbia hasn't yet named team captains, big things are expected from guard Jewel Spear, who was named Preseason First Team All-ACC. She led the team and the ACC last season, scoring 18.3 points a game.
"It's so much fun to watch Jewel practice," Gebbia said. "She's really trying to step up to be a leader more vocally than she was last year. She really makes good decisions and she asks great questions. We've never once butted heads with a philosophy on anything.
"She's just willing to learn. That's a lesson for all of us. We all have to be lifelong learners, not just for a certain amount of time. That's one of the greatest things about her. Any conversation I've ever had with her, we've always been on the same page with basketball and her beliefs and my beliefs. So that really helps to have your best player be in lock-step with you."
The staff is expecting a huge leap forward this season from 6-foot-2 junior forward Demeara Hinds, who averaged 2.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a contest last year.
"She is a force to be reckoned with inside, and I want to use her as that," Gebbia said. "She's also a heck of a rebounder and a heck of a defender. I'm not sure there's many kids who can contend with her on the block when she really wants the ball and is really trying, so we're gonna use that.
"But then we might face opponents that don't have a great inside kid that she can't go, although she can pretty much guard anyone if I'm being honest. When it's not her, and it's gonna be Niyah (Becker), or we're gonna move Liv (Olivia Summiel) to the five so you can match up better. We're looking for matchups, we're looking for advantages. And Demeara could be an advantage in a situation like that, too."
Starting at point guard for the Deacs will be senior Kaia Harrison, a disruptive defender who can attack opposing teams in transition.
"One of the things I really like about Kaia is she's different from Kate (Deeble) point guard wise," Gebbia said. "You got like a real quick, athletic kid that can break it down and get to the rim and Kate's more of set-it-up point guard, but I'm also going to shoot from the perimeter. You have to guard me out here and then get the ball in the right spots.
"And I like the difference between them. It's kind of fun. And Kaia has the energy piece. She's the energizer bunny. I mean, that kid can go and she defends. Yeah. It's hard to take somebody that's that good defensively off the floor. It's just hard. It's disruptive."
The Deacs will play in Joel Coliseum three times in November: Monday against Elon, Nov. 17 against Mercer and Nov. 27 against Coastal Carolina.
"You're going to see them have fun while they're out there playing," Gebbia said. "There's going to be some fun plays that you're going to see. You hope the fans really like it. I've always had fans that have enjoyed it. So I'm hoping these fans enjoy it. And they see the development throughout the year. If they do and they stick with us, they'll be happy. But by this time next year, hopefully."
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Football Media Availability (9/9/25)
Wednesday, September 10